Sour Apple Tree
by Death By Segway Scooter
Summary: What seems to be just a wounded Decepticon landing on his doorstep soon lands Rodimus into a Darwinian nightmare...
1. Parent Species

**Legal Schtick:** I don't own Transformers, just write about 'em. Hasbro/Takara are the guys that actually own 'em. Go talk to them.

**WARNING!** Though it might not be present in the first few chapters, this story _will_ incorporate the Theory of Evolution later. If for some reason evolution offends you or goes against your personal beliefs, it's best you didn't read this story or at least the later chapters.  
In addition, there _will_ be character deaths. I know that I'm probably committing complete and utter TF fanfic blasphemy by doing so, but it is unavoidable; it is a central point to this story, and once you find out who actually did it and what happened, you'd realize it wouldn't make sense if the deaths were taken out. Taking the deaths out would also mean undermining the story's theme and taking away its power. If you're the type that just really hates character deaths, then this fic may not be for you either. Don't say I didn't warn you. Thank you and have a nice day.

  


**Sour Apple Tree**

Chapter 1  
Parent Species

  
  


It was a day like any other summer day. Or was it?

In some sylvan valley plain, various woodland animals carried on their everyday business. Above, the sun shined as it always did in its noon position in the hazy sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight..., which was unfortunate. It was incredibly hot and humid out there. Some cloud cover could have been useful.

A blue jay glided over the plain and lit upon the nearest tree branch. Its head jerked around as it searched for its next meal. And it found one. On another nearby tree to its left, a luna moth had just emerged from its cocoon and was now resting upon. Its large white wings still looked wet.

The blue jay took flight and darted toward the moth. As it neared, it opened its beak for the kill.

But it didn't catch it. Just as the blue jay was practically right on top of the insect, it suddenly spread its huge wings and tried to make its escape. They were so close, that the moth's wings actually slapped the jay in the face. The startled bird fell to the ground as the luna moth took off.

The stunned jay picked itself up out of the grass. It shook itself down and preened its feathers a bit. The moth was nowhere in sight. Looks like it would have to find food somewhere else.

Again it took flight, but flew off to another part of the plain. A place where it knew that the meals were much slower. As it flew, the trees gave way to shrubs. The shrubs gave way to grass. And the grass gave way to...metal?

The jay climbed in the air as it flew over a strange large city. The bird had seen cities and buildings many times before, but even it with all its intelligence as a bird, it knew that this city was decidedly different. The buildings here were much larger and taller than the ones it was used to. They were also very peculiar looking. They were spiked, rounded, and faceted instead of square and smooth. There were very few windows on these buildings, but that would have actually benefited the bird. It meant that there were fewer things to accidentally crash into.

As the bird passed over building after building it glanced down to see a strange red creature below it. Was it a predator of some sort? Well, it wasn't trying to jump up at it, nor was it chasing after it. Couldn't have been one. Another bird, perhaps? It wasn't flying, so chances were it probably wasn't that either. Could it be another insect? If it was, the blue jay knew all too well that its bright color meant it would taste absolutely horrible. Not only that, but it would've been some awfully big bug! But it was probably none of the above, and was probably a deer of some sort.

The jaybird continued on its way. The building subsided, as did the metal ground. The grass beyond the metal turned back to shrubs, which shortly turned back to another pine forest, with hopefully easier to catch meals.

But with all its worldly bird knowledge, the jay could have never guessed what that creature was. Nor would it have been able to comprehend what it was. The red creature in question was a being known as Rodimus Prime. An alien, non-organic, sentient creature; certainly not a deer, insect, or bird of any sort!

Unlike the jaybird, Rodimus was not busy with his usual day-to-day tasks. He would have been, if not for the mysterious flood on the second floor of the building he was standing on. He had gone to that particular floor that morning, only to find himself up to his knee joints in water. Now it was extremely hot that day, even in the morning. Rodimus figured a mysterious "someone" had decided to take advantage of the current Terran weather and throw a pool party. Now why they had to have it there, on that floor, in that building, he didn't know. But unfortunately, that was where his office was located. So now he had to wait until the maintence crew finished draining the place before he could start work. For now, he stood around on the roof of the building, leaning on the thick railing, staring out into space.

It was hot. Humid, too. It made him a bit uncomfortable. But he definitely felt much hotter before; compared to some other planets he visited, Earth's climate was pretty mild, even in their extremes.

He felt the boredom creep around in his mind as he pondered the weather. But quite frankly, even if the second floor had not been flooded, and he had been able to get to today's paperwork, he would have probably been done already. There hadn't been a lot to do, lately.

Even below him, on what is usually the busiest street in Autobot City, there wasn't much going on either. Cars were coming and going. A person stepped out of or into a building every once in awhile. The occasional street vendor. But there by no means were any traffic jams, accidents, car chases, or street fights. Even the rather strange mech that occasionally runs down the street yelling after someone by the name of "Steve" seemed to be taking the day off.

And this was exactly what bugged him. Everything for the past month and a half had been peaceful. Of course, he liked it being peaceful. Peace was good. But there was something unnatural for this long a peace. Normally, the city was far from peaceful; there were attacks on it every couple days, and if it wasn't this city, it was some other unfortunate city getting it. And sometimes there would be attacks on several cities at once!

_Yeah,..._those_ are always fun!_ Rodimus thought bitterly, as he mused over the latter scenario.

This made the young Prime suspect that something was up. If his memory banks served him right, the last time the Decepticons left _anybody_ alone for this length of time was a few years ago. And it had turned out that in that extended rest period, they had been developed Trypticon! He could also clearly remember the panic it had caused back then, as the Autobots hadn't even _dreamed_ of engineering Metroplex at the time.

_That was fun too, wasn't it?_ Rodimus thought sarcastically, with a trace of a shiver as he went over that memory.

Actually, he seemed to recall that he _did_ have fun in that particular battle. Of course, that's when he was an overly confident rookie...he didn't know any better at that time.

He snapped himself back to the matter at hand. He figured that the Decepticons were up to something big again, judging by their long hiatus. Well, long for them, anyway. But the question was, what was it this time? Over the eons, he saw the Decepticons do one crazy stunt after another. And yet, they never seem to run out of ideas for more bizarre antics. Well, whatever they had planned, it was bound to be "fun," much to his dismay.

A sharp, staccatoed fax-screech-like noise escaped his voice processor. It was the mechanical equivalent of an irritated grunt. On one hand, he enjoyed the peace, and wanted to enjoy it. On the other, the suspense was killing him. He wished his adversaries would hurry up and unload whatever it was they were doing and get it over with already.

But of course, that brought up the argument that if the Decepticons actually _did_ do just that right here and now, what if it was more "fun" than he could handle?

_Great...now I'm gonna drive myself nuts...,_ Rodimus thought, scowling a bit. _I better find something to do. Maybe I should go back down and see if they're done draining the water, or something..._

He turned from the railing and shuffled over to an elevator door. He tapped the buttons for it to take him down to the second floor, then stood back an waited. In a moment, a dull blip told him the elevator platform had arrived.

He didn't know it then, but his wish was just about to come true.

Rodimus wasn't expecting anyone to be on that platform. After all, he was the only one on that roof, and he couldn't think of anyone that would be coming up there. But, when the door slid open sideways, he found a rather anxious-looking Red Alert inside, his headgear flashing and sparking like an out-of-control fireworks display.

"Rodmius!" the squad car cried, pouring on the drama unintentionally. "Here you are! Oh, I'm so glad I found you...!"

"Red? What's wrong?" the Prime asked, sounding concerned. Trying to sound concerned to be polite, at least. He knew all too well of Red Alert's bad habit of jumping at shadows. Recently, the fire truck had gotten "very suspicious" when he saw Daniel watching _Grease_ on a computer monitor, while a cat walked down the street outside the window.

And no, it didn't make much sense to Rodimus or anyone else either.

"You're not going to believe this," Red Alert continued, practically shouting, "but we just captured a couple Decepticons-" He was abruptly cut off as the elevator door tried to close on him. He immediately touched the edge, making it automatically re-open, then continued with, "Trying to invade the city!"

Well, this was certainly no cat walking down the street while Olivia Newton John was on TV. Rodimus' attention was caught, but he was still a little wary. He was still taking in Red Alert's paranoia and his tendency to exaggerate. He just hope the security director hadn't jailed someone who was simply _dressed_ like a Decepticon.

"Which Decepticons?" the Prime asked.

"Soundwave!" the answer came and hit him like a ton of bricks. But Red wasn't through yet. "And he's badly damaged, too!"

The thought of Soundwave being anywhere near Autobot City was a bad sign. He would only be there, or anywhere for that matter, for a single purpose: spying. But why was he doing it while _damaged_? Something just didn't seem right about that...

"Did he have any Cassetticons with him?" Rodimus continued.

"Y-yes!" Red Alert cried. "Laserbeak and-" Again, the door tried to shut on the robot. He practically shoved it open this time, mumbling loudly to himself, "I swear this thing's out to get me!"

The semi truck sighed silently. "You know, Red? How about this?" he offered. "Instead of having to fight that door, why don't you just take me to where the Decepticons are being held? You can also fill me in on the details on the way..."

Red Alert gave the Prime a sort of "why didn't I think of that?" look before saying, "Uh, yes, of course," and moving over in the elevator.

Rodimus stepped in and watched as Red Alert pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Now what about those cassettes again?" the young Prime asked. "Laserbeak and...?"

"Buzzsaw and Ratbat!" Red cried, his flashing headgear threatening to blind Rodimus. "They're also heavily damaged!"

"What about Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage?" Rodimus asked, dimming his optics in preparation for the security chief's next answer.

"We didn't find them in his chest compartment or anywhere around him," the police car burst out. "I just _know_ they're running around the city somewhere, trying to cause trouble! I say we put Autobout City on high alert as soon as possible...!"

"Red? Red...?" the flame-painted semi said softly, trying his best to try and calm Red Alert. "Listen...it's just three Cassettecons. It's not like they can do a whole lot of damage. Just send out a warning for now, and I'm sure that someone will find them."

"I...I guess...I don't know about that..."

"Well, where are the captured Decepticons being held now?"

"Across the street, in the repair bay. They're being treated for their damages."

"I...see. Were they like that when you found them?"

"Of course they were! ...Unless..." Red paused for a moment. "Wait...you may have something there! Do you _really_ think the Protectobots could have used unnecessary roughness against Soundwave?! They were the ones that found him, after all. I should have them questioned...!"

"No, no, Red! I wasn't accusing anyone of brutality...!" The "unnecessary roughness" part in Red Alert's answer made him wonder about something, which he thusly asked about. "How badly damaged _are_ they?"

"I'm not so sure about the cassettes, but we're surprised Soundwave can actually function," the red and white Autobot replied. "Whatever he went through, whoever he met, it really rearranged his circuitry something awful!"

At first, Rodimus figured Soundwave had just gotten on Galvatron's bad side. But then, what would he be doing hanging around Autobot City? He wouldn't be able to gather information very well if he hardly functioned...

There was another dull blip, and the elevator door opened to the ground floor. He saw a lot of pumping equipment down there, obviously still being used for the floor above.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Rodimus silently cursed himself out for wishing something would happen.

---

At the med bay, Red Alert directed the young Prime to a room surrounded by a whole slew of Autobots at the emergency repair wing. Afterward, he ran off to issue his security warning for those two missing cassettes.

As he watched the security director run off, Rodimus debated on whether to chuckle or groan. Though Red Alert's zeal over this relatively small issue was fairly amusing, he got that sinking feeling that Red was going to issue that high security warning anyway. Judging by what had happened to the rest of their crew, the three missing Cassetticons would be far too damaged to _do_ any damage. Even if they had escaped whatever Soundwave and the rest of the cassettes had gone through, what could three small Decepticons do in a _whole city_ of Autobots? Did they even know their way around? And what if Soundwave didn't even have them with him?

No...wait...not on him? That wouldn't be right. The last thought had simply popped into his head, but it seemed so irrational. Soundwave without Rumble, Frenzy, and Ravage? He had always had the two brats and the panther handy, as far as Rodimus could remember. They were practically like kids to him, and Ravage was the family pet.

_Hold on a second..._ the Prime thought, again proofreading his thoughts. _A Decepticon-**Soundwave**, no less-caring for someone else? That's a laugh!_

He let out a quiet, cynical snicker, although something in the back of his head told him it was quite possible.

Rodimus was abruptly torn from his thoughts as the crowd of Autobots nearly mobbed him, assaulting him with questions.

"Rodimus? Rodimus!"

"Did Red tell ya?"

"Sweet Primus on a pogo stick, you won't believe who's in there!"

"It's Soundwave! I bet he was trying to spy on us, or something!"

"Dumbot! If he's so banged up, how can he spy on us?!"

"I heard he got mauled by an Igyak!"

"No way! He got attacked by Sharkticons! I saw the wounds!"

"Y'know, they never found Rumble, Frenzy or Ravage...I heard that the damage is just a disguise so they can plant bombs all over the place while we're distracted!"

"Bombs? Get outta here! I heard they were gonna try and steal Metroplex!"

"Y'know what I think? I think..."

"Get outta here! The truth is..."

"People, PLEASE!" Rodimus barked. He had almost never raised his voice before, and the shock was quite visible on most mechs' faces.

"Red Alert told me everything he knew," he continued. "As for what he got attacked by, or where Rumble and Frenzy are or what they're doing, I don't know. So far, all we've got are rumors. Just stay calm, I'm sure we'll get the answers shortly..."

There was a low hum amongst the crowd-the mechanical equivalent of murmuring-after the semi truck spoke. Some still looked flustered and anxious, others looked somewhat embarrassed for spilling what they heard when it probably wasn't true.

Amongst the hums, Rodimus thought he heard somebody whisper, "I heard that Soundwave got attacked by a monster, and he was comin' here for help!" It was probably more preposterous than the rumors of Soundwave get attacked by Igyaks, or the missing cassettes trying to make off with Metroplex...but for some reason, it made that anxious pit growing in his processor much deeper.

Suddenly, the door to the emergency repair dock slid open. Perceptor was about to step out, but when the crowd turn to mob _him_ he jumped back inside. Rodimus tried to calm them again, but his words became lost in the commotion. After a moment, crowd got the hint themselves, and stepped back from the door. Once the bipedal microscope was sure it was safe outside, he returned to the hallway.

"Alright everyone, I know you are all very anxious about this, to say the least," Perceptor announced. "The patient's vital systems have been repaired and is still functioning!" He was immediately assaulted with an array of questions, and tried his best to talk over the crowd. "However! He is still offline! We are not exactly sure what it was that damaged him, but we will question him once he awakens! That is all!!"

Perceptor nearly dived back into the repair bay. The door slid shut behind him. Most of the Autobots were disappointed, and Rodimus heard this disappointment with their simultaneous cry of "Awwwww..." The crowd quickly dispersed around him, people still discussing the unclear nature of this unexpected event.

Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind whispering to him.

"Psst!! Rodmius!"

The youthful Prime quickly turned around to find the red and blue scientist holding the door slightly open, and beckoning him to come inside. He quickly looked around to see if the coast was clear. Most of the crowd was far enough away already, and the remaining stragglers weren't looking. The blaze-adorned semi quickly slipped into the emergency repair bay, the electronic door slamming behind him.

"So what's up, Perceptor?" he asked.

"I figured there were some things you should know about," the microscope in question explained. "I just wanted to make sure the crowd left. Didn't want to start a panic, or cause further rumors to spread, and whatnot."

Rodimus took a quick glance around the room. There were four repair benches out, each with something covered underneath a large amount of the room's equipment was connected to the largest covered object, which was obviously Soundwave.

"So just how badly damaged, is he?" the Prime asked, noting the covers in the first place.

"According to my analyses," Perceptor began, "there was a large amount of damage to the posterior of his cranial unit and recording/storage segment. The armor of that segment was thoroughly pierced, and several major and minor fuel and radio cables were severed, as well as recording diodes, magnetic speaker transistors, and a dorsal amplifier were crushed. Fortunately, the unknown object that assaulted him missed the rear of his processor, although I am uncertain if the trauma could have caused any errors in his memory banks-"

He was hardly finished when he noticed the Rodimus seemed to understand only half of what was being said and his attention span was waning.

Slightly embarrassed, Perceptor stepped over to the large covered object, and took a corner of the giant sheet. "Well...maybe you should see for yourself," he said with a small, shy grin.

With a flick of the wrist, the scientist removed the sheet. Rodimus almost wished he hadn't when he saw what was underneath...

Soundwave lie lifeless and prostrate on the repair bench, revealing his extensive damage. Just like Perceptor had said, the damage was to the back of his head and the upper portion of his back-where he kept the cassettes. The armor looked like something had torn right through it just like tissue paper; the rough edges were even curled back! Certainly not the work of an Igyak or a Sharkticon...they weren't strong enough to do _that_. There was a large, gaping cavity in the Decepticon's back, with all the severed cables that Perceptor had told him about. A small, speaker-like object was hanging out the side of the hole by a few wires. The inside of the cavity was stained a dark color; it had probably been filling with oil before the equipment he was connected to pumped it out of him. Most of said equipment was plugged into the messy, ghastly cavity. If he made his optics zoom in far enough, he thought he see Soundwave's core peeking out from all the ripped cables. But he never looked long enough to see if it really was a core; the damage was more than enough to look at, anyway. He found himself craning his neck away, and shutting off his optics.

"Yes, I know," he heard Perceptor say glumly. "Quite...disturbing isn't it?"

"Let's put it this way," Rodimus said, reactivating one eye, "Red told me him and the rest of his crew were surprised he still functioned. Now I see why...and I'm wondering the same thing, myself!"

He was just about to ask Perceptor if he knew anything about what could have done this, but the Autobot scientist seemed to read his mind. The microscope brought up an image of Soundwave's schematics, plus all the damage.

"Trajectory analysis dictates that whatever this object was that struck him, or creature that attacked him started from here," Perceptor placed his blocky index finger on the screen above and behind Soundwave's side-view schematics, "and cut through the unfortunate Decepticon like so..." He drew a crescent on the screen with his finger, going right through the back of the head, arcing through the deepest part of the grisly wound, and coming out the mid-portion of the back.

Rodimus shuddered. He remembered a time not too long ago where he'd find all this excessive spilled fluid and ripped circuitry fascinating. Now he couldn't stand to look at it. Perhaps it was a sign of aging?

"Furthermore, judging by the actual damage dealt, I've concluded that the weapon used against Soundwave was some sort of spiked blunt object," Perceptor said. "A very large mace is perhaps the best candidate."

_A mace...?_ Rodimus asked himself. That sounded awful familiar. Where had he seen a mace before?

Wait...didn't Megatron used to have some sort of energy mace a few years ago? He remembered seeing it a few times, though how large the energy mace was escaped him at the moment. After all, now that Megatron was assumed to be Galvatron now, he almost exclusively relied on his arm cannon. Even if he still owned the mace, he doubted it had got much use anymore, if at all.

But then something else crossed his processor...

"What about Soundwave's cassettes?" the young Prime asked.

"Ah yes, the cassettes!" Perceptor replied. "They're doing much better than their creator, I must say..."

The bipedal microscope briefly stepped into the backroom of the repair bay. He returned with a cart covered in a very large sheet. He wheeled over to the center of the room and removed its cover. Lying on the table was Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, and Ratbat-all deactivated. They had some dents in their backs, and Ratbat seemed to have some heavier dents underneath.

Rodimus looked at them a bit warily. "Are they...?"

"Yes, they've all been taken offline by a long-term deactivation virus," the scientist said with a knowing smile. "Very obvious reasons as to why. No need to worry, Rodimus."

The Prime felt quite relieved about that. With a severely banged up Decepticon arriving at his door and rumors of monsters and what the missing cassettes are up to, the last thing he needed was the present cassettes wreaking havoc.

"So far, the only damage the cassettes have received is to their outer shells," Perceptor reported. "The only exception is Ratbat, who seems to have some minor punctures from glass shards." He picked up the purple rodent-like mech and held up its underside to Rodimus. Sure enough, there were pieces of glass of various sizes sticking out of the cassette's armor. "This of course happened when Soundwave was struck from behind. The blow knocked him down hard enough to shatter his cassette door window. Ratbat was the furthest in front of his master's tape deck, which explains how he received damage from the glass shards."

"Yeah, I gotcha," Rodimus replied. "So something snuck up on Soundwave and did a number on him. Any idea who did it, and what he's doing here?"

"Well, as for how he got here, the Protectobots found him not too far away from the city limits," Perceptor said. "But perhaps Red Alert told you this already?"

"Briefly," the Prime said almost with a laugh, "when he wasn't getting hysterical over the missing Cassetticons..."

"Ah! Yes, of course...!" the scientist said, with almost a knowing twinge in his voice. "Anyway, they had found him near some sort of small Decepticon space vehicle. It's assumed that he had piloted it here, and then attempted to crawl out of it. Of course, shortly after, he went into stasis lock because of his heavy damage. Now who or what actually _caused_ this damage is another hypothesis altogether. When I had heard that Soundwave had arrived here in a space vehicle, I had assumed that the vehicle had crashed upon landing, and thus he had been damaged in the impact. But, as Hot Spot told me, the space vehicle was perfectly intact. So that ruled out a crash. Then, when I saw the extent of the damage on said Decepticon, I had assumed Galvatron got to him. But as I have just shown you, the forensics show that he was struck by a blunt object with serrated edges. According to my past analyses, Galvatron _exclusively_ uses his arm-mounted plasma cannon to do anything from attacking one of our troops to berating his own. And in the event he does _not_ use his arm-mounted plasma cannon, he uses his alternate mode. This almost totally rules out Galvatron except for the event that he had lost his arm-mounted plasma cannon. But in that scenario, I calculate that he would-"

"So...it wasn't because his vehicle crashed, and Galvatron didn't do it, right?" Rodimus cut in. He at least tried not to sound too impatient, although he wasn't too sure he pulled it off right.

"Err...yes...," Perceptor replied, looking embarrassed. "It is highly unlikely that is was Galvatron, nor was it from a spacecraft crash. However, the creature that, to put it in layman's terms, 'got the drop on him' had to be very powerful in order to inflict this type of damage...!" He pointed to the stasis-locked mech on the table. "As you can see, the radius of the weapon used is nearly the size of Soundwave's back! This surely wasn't the work of a simple ground troop."

"A Predacon?" Rodimus asked. "They're pretty strong, and primitive weapons would be right up their alley..."

"That's precisely what I had calculated," the scientists nodded. Suddenly, his countenance became grave. "However...there is something Hot Shot told me that seemed rather...disturbing..."

"What?" the Prime queried.

"He had reported that Soundwave was still conscious when they had found him," the microscope said softly. "He claims the Decepticon had been requesting Autobot assistance..."

"Autobot _assistance_?! For what?"

"I believe he said 'a monster.'"

The Prime sat there blankly. A monster. Soundwave had flown in all the way from Charr or where ever the Decepticons were at the time because of a "monster." It was the same exact rumor he had heard in the hallway. It still sounded completely ridiculous, but now that Soundwave _himself_ supposedly said something about a monster. It was just too...creepy.

Perceptor must have read the look on his face plate as disbelief, for he said, "Yes, well...I know it sounds utterly preposterous. There's probably a logical explanation for it. Soundwave may have not been able to get a good look at his assailant and merely _thought_ it was a monster. Or perhaps, since Soundwave's voice processor is damaged, Hot Spot _thought_ he heard the Decepticon mention a monster."

"Err...right!" Rodimus said, snapping to attention but not quite hiding the nervousness in his voice. "Yeah...it's probably just a big misunderstanding...that's all. So, um...I guess we'll just have to wait until he's up and running again to find out what _really_ happened."

"Indeed," Perceptor nodded. "I shall get to work on him immediately. However, this may take some time since Soundwave's damage is so extensive, and Hoist and Grapple are currently trying to drain the building across the street..."

The Prime just shrugged. "It's alright. These things happen. Just take your time. It's more important that he doesn't stop functioning than the time it takes to repair him," he turned to leave. "Well, good luck. And uh,...thanks for the heads-up on Soundwave."

The scientist returned a quiet "You're welcome," before returning to the task of repairing the battered Decepticon. As Rodimus was stepping out the door, he thought he heard Perceptor mumbling to himself about how much easier the repairs would be if Ratchet and Wheeljack were still around...

---

It had been three days. Three days and no news. The second floor of that flooded office building had been drained, of course, but nothing else was new. Soundwave had not come back online yet. No missing cassettes had turned up. Metroplex remained where he was. Rumors began to die out. And there was still no report on any Decepticon activity, anywhere.

Rodimus was pacing around his now dry office. There was some datapad-work to be done, but he just couldn't concentrate on it. He was bored again. It was that same anxious boredom at the beginning of this whole mess, but it was more intense. He now had a tangible excuse to be anxious: a wrecked Decepticon had been dumped on his doorstep, and supposedly begged for help because of...a monster.

He knew he shouldn't believe that stupid little rumor. It just sounded so ridiculous-come on! A monster?! What, did it come from under a human's bed? It was probably what he and Perceptor had concluded: Soundwave got on one of the Predacon's bad sides - which was _incredibly_ easy to do - and that one retaliated. It's not like the Predacons were too picky about who received beatings.

But...something just wasn't right. Something was telling him that it hadn't been a Predacon that attacked Soundwave. It was something much worse than that. It's just this feeling he had; he just _knew._ But if it hadn't been a Predacon, then what? And why couldn't delete the "monster" rumor from his memory?

Suddenly, the sound of static and a voice calling, "Rodimus!" heralded a message on his internal radio. He nearly jumped from the unexpected noise. Pulling himself back together, he flipped a panel on his lower left arm, and talked into the receiver underneath. "Yes?" he said.

"Rodimus! It's Perceptor!" a familiar accented voice said over the internal PA system.

Rodimus felt his mech fluid run cold. He could only think of one reason why Perceptor was calling him. Well two reasons, but he was going to be awful mad if Perceptor was trying to remind him of his yearly tune-up! "Y-yes?" he repeated, for he couldn't think of much else to reply with.

"Soundwave is back online! He wishes to speak with you and Magnus," the scientists voice said.

Well, at least it wasn't some disappointing tune-up reminder. However, the fact that Soundwave wanted to speak with him and Ultra Magnus was troubling. After all, the Decepticon was supposedly requesting help...

"What about?" Rodimus asked.

"He refuses to divulge that information," Perceptor replied. "He said that he only wishes to speak with you and Magnus. And speak with the both of you alone..."

The Prime hesitated. This was beginning to get creepy again. Maybe Soundwave wanted to speak with him and Magnus to ask for help, and didn't trust any other Autobots to ask? And if he _was_ requesting assistance, what would it be for? He couldn't help but hope to Primus it wasn't about a "monster"...

But how would he know without seeing for himself?

"I'll be right there," Rodimus said.

"Excellent. Magnus is also on his way," said Perceptor's voice. "Ending transmission."

The Prime heard a small squawk as the radio signal ended. He then solemnly trudged out of his office. He kept trying to tell himself that what was about to happen was not what he was expecting. But some other voice in the back of his processor told him things were all downhill from here.


	2. Mutation

  
  


**Chapter 2  
Mutation**

  
  


It landed gently on its feet in the soft sands of a vast desert, alone.

The creature had come to this particular world for energy. But supposedly nearly the entire planet was desert. Not exactly the best place to look for energy, right?

No. The natives here took advantage of their sun's unforgiving heat and used some very sophisticated form of solar energy. They could supposedly convert it at nearly one hundred percent efficiency! So actually, if word-of-mouth was correct, this _was_ one of the best places for re-energizing oneself.

It looked around. As to be expected from a desert, the sun was shining. Shining brightly. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. In fact, there probably wasn't any _water vapor_ in the _air_. Around it other than flat, endless expanses of desert were cliffs with natural bridges and strange-looking rock formations. In the distance, it could see some flying creatures circling over what was probably a carcass. They acted like Earth's vultures, but in reality, they were fish-like animals. In and way out to the east, it could see a storm. The sky was dark, and every now and then he'd see a tiny flicker of light, which was assumed to be lightning. So much for there not being any water vapor in the air.

How interesting! It had never been able to just sit and take in its surroundings like this before! Well, that was because if it had, the others would have taken it as a sign of weakness. But they were all gone now. There was no longer anyone around that would judge it as "weak" anymore (especially when the ones that did had proven to be "weak" _themselves!_). It could sit around and examine its environment all it wanted. And so it sat down in the sand and just looked around for a while.

But then it soon found out that taking in the environs was actually pretty boring. So it stood up and went on its way to find a sufficient energy source. Its long feet made strange footprints in the sand, and its thick, heavy tail made a trench between them.

---

Rodimus Prime headed back to the repair bay, dreading every step. He tried not to think of eerie rumors or what the Decepticon might tell him, but it was nearly impossible.

Just like last time, there was a crowd gathered outside the door of the repair bay. It was mostly the same people, too. And just like last time, they nearly mobbed him when they saw him.

"Rodimus? Rodimus!"

"Didja hear? Didja hear?"

"Sweet Primus on a pogo stick! Guess what happened?!"

"Soundwave's awake! And he wants to see you!"

"Dumbot! I wanted to tell him that!"

"I heard he wants help, or something!"

"I bet he's here to lead us into a trap! Whatever you do, don't listen to him Rodimus!"

This time, the Prime decided against yelling. Instead, he cleared his "throat" loudly. This proved to be effective, as the crowd not only quieted down, but they didn't bear the look of shock like they did when he raised his voice. Of course, they could have always quieted down this time because they were afraid of him "erupting" again. But then again, who knows?

"As many of you already know, what with the way rumors spread around here," Rodimus began, "Soundwave awoke and is requesting to speak with only me and Ultra Magnus. What exactly he wants to tell us, and only us, I'm not completely sure of-"

"I heard he's wanting us to help the Decepticons!" a mech shouted over the crowd, cutting him off.

"Er...yes, I heard he wants Autobot assistance as well," the young Prime answered. "That seems likely, but it may not be correct. We'll have to see what he actually wan-"

"I bet he's setting up a trap, the dirty slag sucker!" an agressive mech barked suddenly. "Don't trust him, Prime!"

"Well...we'll have to see what he says first to determine if anything sounds supicious," Rodimus replied again, feeling a bit irritated now by getting cut off twice in a row. "You all can be rest assured that Soundwave himself is not armed. The medics took care removing all weapons from him and deactivating the cassettes he had on him. But first we have to hear him out; then we'll decide if he appears to be leading us into-"

"Oh _there_ you are, Rodimus!"

The red semi was actually relieved to be interrupted this time. It was Perceptor, leaning out the doorway. He had the heavy metal door opened only enough to allow himself to lean out.

"Alright, it's time," Rodimus said. "Excuse me, folks..."

He pushed past the crowd with several mechs still warning him to be careful or begging him to tell everyone the whole thing when he was done. He slipped in, and Perceptor immediately shut the door tight behind him.

Inside, Ultra Magnus was standing in a corner, looking calm and collected as usual. Soundwave was on the same repair table, only now he was repaired and lying on his back. He was also missing his shoulder gatling gun. Soundwave was lying so still, that if his optics hadn't been glowing that dull red, Rodimus would have sworn he was still offline.

He walked over to the side of the table near Magnus. "Did the crowd almost trample you, too?" the giant mech asked him, noting his slightly weary look.

"How'd you guess?" Rodimus replied, smirking.

Magnus returned a sharp snicker.

The young Prime returned to the much more serious matter and stepped up to the Decepticon on the repair table. "Alright, we're here," he said. "Now what is it you wanted to ask us?"

Soundwave did not answer. Instead, he lifted his head up and gave a cold stare at Perceptor, who was in the opposite corner of the room.

"Oh-!" the scientist almost yelped when the Decepticon spotted him. "Er, yes. Sorry. I shall remove myself immediately...!"

Perceptor started for the door into the main hallway. But then he remembered the crowd on the other side of that door and decided against it. He walked back to the side of the room he started from, and exited out a door leading into another room.

"All right, _now_ we're alone," Rodimus said. "You can talk now."

The Decepticon radio still did not answer them, but slowly and quietly scanned the room, as if to make absolutely sure they were, indeed, alone. Rodimus felt his patience begin to wane. Finally, Soundwave turned his head toward him and Magnus.

"Requesting Autobot assistance," he said to them in his droning mechanical voice.

_I had a feeling he was going to say that!_ Rodimus thought, feeling a pit in his central processor.

"Assistance for what?" Ultra Magnus asked simply.

The Prime almost gave himself a power surge waiting for the answer.

"Operation: Seek and destroy undetermined assailant," Soundwave replied.

It wasn't a "monster," but kind of close. "An 'assailant'?" Rodimus asked. "What did it do?"

"Appearance: Unknown," Soudwave answered. "Error caused by personal assault from behind. Assailant identity unavailable due to error. Damage caused: Extensive. Planet Charr status: Flattened."

"Flattened?" Rodimus asked again, raising an optic ridge. "But isn't Charr already in ruins?"

"Negative," the Decepticon said. "Status of building structures before forced deactivation: standing, but damaged. Status of building structures after forced deactivation: flattened or vaporized."

"Vaporized...?" Magnus said, looking a bit shocked. "Did someone bomb you?"

"Negative," Soundwave replied. "Damage to Charr similar to that of damage caused by thermonuclear bomb. However, radiation detected: none. Tragectory of blast radius infers damage was caused by a beam weapon. Type of beam weapon: unknown."

_That's one Pit of a beam weapon!_ Rodimus thought.

"However," Soundwave continued. "Damage caused to most Decepticon caused by brute force. Almost all Decepticons known to be terminated."

The words hit the two Autobots like a ton of bricks. "Almost all Decepticons..._terminated._" To Ultra Magnus, it sounded highly suspicious. It also sounded a pretty suspicious to Rodimus, but the feeling that he just got punched in the mid-section was stronger.

"Did you say, 'terminated'?" The city commander asked, sounding skeptical.

"Affirmative," the Decepticon droned. "Constructicon units' status: Terminated. Reflector units' status: Terminated. Remaining Seeker units' status: Terminated. Triple-changer units' status: Terminated..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rodimus cried, cutting him off. "Let's make things easier. Is there any Decepticons you know of that _weren't_ terminated?"

"Processing...," Soundwave's optics went black, and he let out a low hum as he checked his memory banks. A moment later, his optics reactivated. "Processing complete. Results positive. Cyclonus' status: Unknown."

"Unknown?"

"No remains found."

"I see," Magnus said, still sounding skeptical. "What about Galvatron?"

"Processing...," Soundwave checked his memory banks again. He could not remember finding any actual wreckage of Galvatron. He had only found a single purple prong from his horn-like like headgear. But perhaps that was all that was actually left? "Galvatron's status: Terminated."

"Well, what about the Predacons?" he asked. "They're pretty tough, aren't they...?"

Soundwave didn't need to process that one. He clearly remembered seeing a dull grey Predaking as he had entered an underground hangar where he found his space vehicle. He also clearly remembered seeing Predaking had been gutted in all of his components and had been hung from the hangar's ceiling by his own cable and wire innards. "Predacon units' status," he said, "Terminated."

"Uh huh," Ultra Magnus replied, not making much of an effort to hide the disbelief in his voice this time. "And what about Trypticon?"

Soundwave was very sure Trypticon hadn't survived. Before he had been knocked offline, Trypticon was in city mode, and he could actually see him on the horizon. When he had come back online after the mysterious accident, everything within miles was flat, smoking metal. With the occaisional mangled Decepticon body lying around. He figured that like the rest of the buildings on Charr, Trypticon had been flattened too. "Trypticon's status: Terminated," he said.

"I figured I should ask you this...," Rodimus began. "When the Protectobots found you, they said three of your cassettes were missing. Are they...?"

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage," Soundwave answered, cutting the Prime off, "...Terminated..." Both Autobots thought they heard a faint sadness in the radio's droning voice.

"Well, the only thing I can think of that's strong enough to kill almost all the Decepticons at once is Unicron," Ultra Magnus said. "But his head is still floating around Cybertron's vicinity..."

"Unicron revival: Illogical," Soundwave agreed. "Unicron would have devoured Charr."

"That too," the giant Autobot replied.

"Assailant identity unknown," the Decepticon continued, sitting up, "but is extremely powerful based on damage data. Assailant is extremely dangerous and most likely destroys any life forms upon contact. Assailant must be found and terminated before it destroys any more planets. Autobot assistance required." Soundwave raised his voice this time, almost making him sound desperate.

"We'll...we'll have to see about this, Soundwave," Rodimus said, trying his best to sound reassuring. "For now, we've heard no reports of any mysterious creatures destroying planets or killing people. I'll have to speak with the others, and-"

He stopped when Soundwave actually reached out a hand and grabbed his arm, as if to stop him from leaving. Magnus began to reach in his subspace compartment for a weapon when he saw this, but the young Prime shook his head at the city commander. Magnus removed his hand from subspace, but watched Soundwave like a hawk.

"Voice analysis: Disbelief," the radio said.

"Well Soundwave, you _did_ tell us that some "unknown assailant" just walked in and killed almost every Decepticon except you," the Prime retorted. "You have to admit, that _is_ pretty hard to swallow...!"

"Suggestion," said the Decepticon. "Go to Charr. See the slain mechs for yourself. Disbelief will be dispelled."

"Err...right," Rodimus muttered, shaking off Soundwave's hand. "We'll do that. But like I said, I'll need to talk with the other Autobots about it. We can't go rushing into things, especially when no one else has reported any strange massive deaths."

"Understood," Soundwave replied as he returned his hand to the repair table, his voice sounding a bit quieter. He almost sounded disappointed. "Analysis: Autobot units do not trust me yet. However, danger is imminent. Hesitation: inadvisable." With that, he laid back down on the table. His optic visor shut off, and he was presumably recharging.

"Well, _that_ was fun...," the Prime muttered quietly, so as not to awaken the Decepticon if he really was recharging.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Magnus replied.

The two Autobots began to leave the repair bay, but hesitated when the reached the door. After all, they didn't want to be mobbed by another crowd. Ultra Magnus opened the door a crack and peered out. Surprisingly, the coast was clear. Perhaps everyone got bored and left? Oh, well. Best not look a gift horse in the mouth.

They stepped outside, cautiously. They soon found out why the crowd was gone. Translucent walls of the security barriers were up at both ends of the hallway. In other words, the place was roped off. Maybe Perceptor got fed up with being mugged every time he walked out of a room and requested they be activated? Or perhaps Red Alert figured the crowd would start rioting? Whatever the reason, Rodimus was actually relieved to see them up. He didn't feel like fighting a crowd for the third time this week.

"So what do you think?" he asked Magnus nonchalantly.

"What do I think?" the very large Autobot grumbled. "I think it's a trap, that's what. I mean, some 'unknown' monster walks in and kills everyone _but_ him? Impossible. And let's not forget...he told us to go to Charr. Yeah...just walk into Decepticon territory. It's a trap, alright."

"I'll say," the Prime agreed. He did admit that Soundwave's story sounded pretty far-fetched to him, too. After all, what kind of creature or creatures have enough power to kill hundreds of Decepticons, and then just _conveniently_ vanish into thin air? And Soundwave's suggestion about visiting Charr did sound rather incriminating.

But despite it sounding ridiculous, that little voice in the back of his processor told Rodimus not all of it was untrue. He was also reminded of the "monster" rumor again by Magnus's words. Even though Soundwave had never actually said a "monster" had attacked Charr, based on his reports, the giant reptile called "Godzilla" from a Terran movie he saw once may have just as well stomped through it! Secretly, he found the whole thing disturbing.

Trying to get his mind off of it, he asked Magnus, "So...what should we do with Soundwave?"

"First we'll let Perceptor finish working on him," the city commander replied, "then we'll probably keep him in a sound-proof prison cell for awhile. I wonder if we should, though. I mean, once the Decepticons figure out that their bait isn't coming back, they might come looking for him here. I'll have to think about it..."

"What do you think attacked him?" the Prime asked idly.

"Oh, probably a Predacon, or something," Magnus replied. "Or maybe Galvatron decided not to use his cannon, for once. I'll give them points for realism this time."

"Uh...yeah..."

Their chatter was interrupted by a sudden urgent radio signal to both of them. "This is Blaster callin' Rodimus Prime and Ultra Magnus. Do you read me? I repeat - Prime and Magnus, do you read me?"

Rodimus reactivated his radio. "We read you loud and clear, Blaster," he replied. "What's the problem?"

"The desert planet of Sector 57 is reporting Decepticon activity!" Blaster announced, "They're sayin' a lone Decepticon is out roamin' too close for comfort by a major city. I know it ain't much to go by, but the natives don't find it fly. With the numbers, they don't care...they say they just want 'im outta their hair!"

"I see...," the Prime said, somewhat intrigued. "We're on our way."

"I gotcha, Prime. This's Blaster, over and out!" the Autobot radio thus ended his transmission.

"So much for all the Decepticons being killed by an 'unknown assailant,' huh?" Magnus mused.

"That's true," Rodimus agreed. "Although it make you wonder...why is there only one?"

"Who knows?" the city commander replied. "But it's best we take care of it as soon as possible. Wouldn't want to ruin our twenty-year record of keeping them from conquering anymore planets, now would we?"

"Of course not. But...before we do that, I need to contact Blaster at the control center again."

"How come?"

Rodimus pointed to one of the energy barriers at the end of the hall. "I need to ask him to take one of those down," he replied, blandly. "Otherwise, we can't get out..."


End file.
